In early August of every year, my backyard of Canton, OH plays host to a variety of events including the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the grand parade, the Hall of Fame game, the hot-air balloon festival and starting in 2015, the “Concert For Legends”. Northeast Ohio has long been touted as the birthplace of football and we take our football very seriously around here – on all levels. I first caught wind of this new show back in March and knew that I had to get myself and KNAC.COM involved. In years past, we would enjoy a variety of smaller live acts that performed throughout the week at the fairgrounds. POP EVIL was the headlining rock act in 2014. This year was going to be different. There was only one concert and it was to be played at Tom Benson Stadium, right next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This was the last stop on AEROSMITH’s “Blue Army Tour”, and like all of the other dates, LIVING COLOUR was the opener. As the sun set behind them, the group came out to a sparsely filled stadium. The lines at the beer vendors were long and slow-moving and I don’t want to say that security dropped the ball, but everyone I talked to seemed to have no clue where certain seats or sections were, resulting in the lines at the gates beginning to clog and thicken. LIVING COLOUR, though talented, struggled to fill their time slot, often ad-libbing and stalling. The surprise of the set was Brad Whitford’s appearance for the CREAM cover of “Sunshine Of Your Love”. The band’s brief appearance ended with, no surprises here, “Cult Of Personality”, which sounded excellent.

Setlist:

“Middle Man”

“Glamour Boys”

“Open Letter (To A Landlord)”

“Sunshine Of Your Love” (CREAM Cover feat. Brad Whitford)

“Cult Of Personality”

At just a shade past 9pm, AEROSMITH made their way to the stage; arriving in large shuttle vans. The crowd shrieked as Joe, Steven, and Co exited the vehicles and headed inside. All of this was on full display on the three large screens, one center stage behind Joey Kramer’s drum kit and two smaller ones, flanking the stage on either side. The lights came down and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry slowly rose up from underneath the stage at the end of a runway in the center of the crowd. Hit after hit, AEROSMITH ripped off a stellar set which included classics, contemporary AEROSMITH and everything in between. I was impressed and delighted with hearing “Rats In The Cellar” and “Toys In The Attic” most of all.

The show had all of the trimmings and excess; the massive stage with a huge light production package, tons of fog, and artist entrance from underneath the stage floor. Steven Tyler even appeared from below deck with a white piano during the encore for “Dream On”. The crowd was a good mix of young and old fans alike, some were wearing their AEROSMITH shirts while others were rocking the jerseys of their favorite football teams. Being from Boston, Brad Whitford left his New England Patriots hat on the entire evening. Steven even mentioned the Cleveland Browns to a deafening cascade of cheers and barking. There were two reasons everyone showed up that night…football and rock n’ roll. Thank God I love them both. My sources have told me that next year’s act has already been booked, but there will be no formal announcement for some time. I can speculate on who it is, but this I know…AEROSMITH will be an extremely hard act to follow.

Setlist:

“Draw The Line”

“Love In An Elevator”

“Cryin’”

“Pink”

“Last Child”

“Livin’ On The Edge”

“Toys In The Attic”

Drum Solo

“Rag Doll”

“Stop Messin’ Around” (FLEETWOOD MAC Cover)

“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”

“Rats In The Cellar”

“Come Together” (BEATLES Cover)

“Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”

“Walk This Way” (with LIVING COLOUR)

Encore:

“Dream On”

“Sweet Emotion”

Check out a few photos from the show!All Photos By Geoff Ketler/Aces High Photography